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Welcome to the 2016 Alcatel Pop 5 review. It is not to be confused with the POP 3 (5) which is a different model but shares the same chassis. We've had passing glances at the Alcatel phones before but never in-depth due to the models being cheap and not so good. The story of this brand is interesting so do check it out on the internet and you'll understand why these phones are so cheap. We believe the Pop 5 is the first truly competitive Android entry smart phone for entry level users made by the Alcatel the brand. The Alcatel Pop 5 is priced at $119 as a prepaid package.
In terms of construction the Pop 5 is very good. The seal between the front and rear panels are perfect, materials used feel more expensive than the asking price. It's the glass front panel and soft finish used by the Lumia phones and the weight that basically make it feel good. There are only touch screen buttons except for the on/off and volume switches which cleans up the design. The Pop 5 feels great for the price better than our current favourite the Galaxy J1.
In terms of hardware the Alacatel Pop 5 has a few tricks for a very cheap smart phone. The screen size is 5 inches and the resolution is 720P IPS which is a stand out and looks very good. There are only 3G and 4G bands which is interesting choice along with the 8MP rear cans 5MP front camera. The numerically low 1.1 Ghz CPU is an interesting choice but we didn't notice any real performance issues. The only missing feature seems to be a dedicated GPU for games but expected at this price level. It is also interesting to note that the Pop 5 appears to be network exclusive at this point in time to the Optus network. The only flaw is the tiny standard memory at less than 4Gig so you will need a separate memory card even before you start using it. Remembering that this is the cheapest smartphone we've ever tested with these specs, the Pop 5 doesn't look like a cheap phone.
In terms of use Alcatel Pop 5 has the latest Android 6.0 operating system with minimal changes to the stock experience and as a result works smoothly and relatively quickly. We won't try and over analyse the usage experience due to price ... but officially the Pop 5 works great for such a cheap phone. It is easily better than the Galaxy J1 2015 version we tested at twice the price. Smooth and fast enough for most use, even heavy duty web pages work OK on it. TXT talking and Facebook and other social media sites work perfectly. We have no complaints due its price tag.
The conclusion is easy, the Alcatel Pop 5 is an impressive entry level smart phone due to it's RRP price tag of $119 as a pre-paid package. We can't think of another phone to date that is this impressive. It is just about perfect for new smart phone purchasers to start with will be happy but it's not for gamers! Mind you long term reliability could be the only issue you need to consider but at this price we don't think it is an major issue. Definitely try the Pop 5 before making any decision.
Specifications
- Alcatel Pop 5
- Network
Dual-band 3G
Quad-band 4G
- Design
Touch screen
L141 x W72 x D7.9 mm
- Weight 160 grams
- Display
5 inch - 1280 x 720 pixels
- Camera
8MP auto-focus LED Flash
2nd forward facing video call camera 5MP
- Video Camera
720p 30FPS main video camera
- Connectivity
Wi-Fi, Bluetooth V4
- CPU
Quad-core 1.1 Ghz
- Memory
1Gig RAM
Up to 4 Gig for user
Up to 32Gig micro-SD expansion
- Features
FM Radio with RDS
Li-Po 2500 mAh battery
Up to 16 Days Standby
Up to 8 hours Talk Time
- Price history
Approx under $119 August 2016 (Pre-paid)
